I'm looking at buying an American Standard HSS Strat. I really like the look of the Sienna Burst finish which has an ash (rather than alder) body, and I already have an ash-bodied Tele which I like so I'm happy to go with that tone-wise.

My problem is I've never felt an ash-bodied Strat before, and my ash Tele is very heavy. That's fine for rhythm playing (which is all my Tele is used for), but the weight really gets to me when I'm not just having it low-slung. I.e. for lead playing, I find the weight is a huge problem. I also don't have access to try out any American Fenders out so I can't feel for myself what the weight is like.

Anyone know how the weight of an ash Strat would compare to that of an ash Tele? Is it much lighter?
Or, does anyone have enough experience with ash-bodied Strats to give a good idea of what their average body weight is like?


And yeah, I know every piece of timber is going to be different so it's not possible to know exactly how much each guitar will weigh, I'm just looking for a rough estimate.

Though for reference, I also have a Gibson CS LP that's a one-piece mahogany body and is actually quite a lot lighter than the ash Tele - I've had quite a few other mahogany-bodied guitars that have been lighter than the ash Tele too. Is this normal? Is it perhaps that the particular piece of ash my Tele was made from is just particularly freakishly heavy and other ash guitars should be fine?

Hi Ace, welcome to the Forum.

You're right, wood can vary enormously in weight from one piece to another. And there's different types of ash, too: northern "baseball bat" ash is much harder and heavier than swamp ash.

I never remember to keep a note of this, so I have to go weigh guitars again each time this subject comes up. So having done that once more, here's a selection of some of my guitars' weights:

Ash bodied Strat -- 8 pounds
Sapelle (mahogany) bodied Strat -- 7.5 (surprising...)
Les Paul -- 8.75 (not bad for a Paul)
Lite Ash Tele -- 7 (that lite is indeed light!)
Ash bodied Jazz Bass -- 10.5

Hope that gives you something to work with...

Cheers - C

78 Mustang weighed 8 lbs
98 ash body Strat between 6 and 7 lbs, closer to 7

If it was chambered or hollowed out it would/could be less than 5 lbs.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I almost went for a chambered ash Warmoth build Strat but the Fender's Sienna Burst is too pretty to pass up, so it's solid bodies for me!



Thanks for the replies people, sounds like the ash Strat should be a managable weight for me then. I just weighed my Tele, came in at just a fraction under 10lbs... if your ash Strats are in the 7-8lb range I reckon that's just lighter enough for me to give a go. Thanks again!

Ace,
I own a 1989 strat plus (2 pc ash) and 2001 Am Std (alder). I'll tell you, the slight pain in my shoulder from using my ash bodied guitar is a small sacrifrice to have an overall better tone and sound. Don't get me wrong, I love my Am Std but even though my strat plus has the "swimming pool" pickup routing, it still has a more sustain and a much richer sound.

I just got back from taking my first Strat to my local guitar shop to get it weighed. This 1975 Strat has a one-piece ash body and is the heaviest one I own at 9.05 lbs.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.